FINAL FANTASY VII II : Last Caress
by Kakaroti
Summary: FFVII II : Last Caress, takes place 8 months after the METEOR crisis. Cloud Strife is returning to his friends, and will once again have to battle the forces of evil.
1. Prologue

NOTE: this is the second release of this story and features new scenes, heavy corrections, and much needed depth over the previous instalment. 

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_**Disclaimer:**__ SQUARE ENIX owns all original Final fantasy VII characters. _

A/N: So this is my first FF fic, and most likely my only, because I really think that FFVII is the best FF ever, it's story, plot, and ending that leaves so many open questions out, I will now give you FFVII - II: "Last Caress" which is an adventure, romance, and action packed FFVII sequel! I will use the old characters, and put in some of my own, but it will work! I hope you will enjoy it, and review as always.

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**FFVII - II: Last Caress **

Prologue:

After the final battle against Sephiroth, AVALANCHE the resistance group formed by _Barret Wallace_ had defeated the evil SHINRA general and had finally restored order and peace on the planet, short after that, leader and hero _Cloud Strife_ left the group without known reasons; the only thing he had left behind him was a note that read:

"Friends, after this tremendous effort I have come to the decision to leave the group and travel alone for a change, not just to get away for a change and explore the land, but also to give you guys a well earned break. I promise I will be back soon, and I will NOT DISAPPOINT! I hope to see you all again soon... sincere Cloud Strife."

After two months of relief the group lasting of _Barret_, _Tifa_, _Cid_, _Vincent_, and _Yuffie_ had all moved to the calm and beautiful town _Junon_ to start a whole new life of peace and relaxation which finally seemed within their grasp. Little they knew about the future and what excitement and sorrow it would bring, but for now they were unaware and happy, yet something was missing, one person who always could lift their spirits had been gone for 8 months, and one day after another they began wondering if he ever would come back again. Still hope still remained in their hearts.


	2. Chapter I : Waking Up

**Chapter I: Waking up**

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It was a clear sky that elimunated faint light on to a grassy field. He sat on the dry grass and felt the wind blow gently moving his spiky hair and making it wave. Lifting his head up and looking at the stars he was beneath Cloud was wondering what life had in store for him. He was very tired after a long day that seemed meaningless, realising for the first time since he left that something had bothered him for a while, and not being able to think of anything surreal he turned his brain upside down just to figure out what was plaguing his unwary heart for what seemed to be a long time. 3 months had he thought about it, and it almost tortured him to a point where he fell onto the soft grass and ran his hands through his hair.

He could clearly remember his friends, the way they laughed when they were glad and cheerful, and the way they despaired when they were sad, it all made sense, it was those memories that were making him more and more attached to the past which was something he had tried to burry underneath his thick skin. This unaware personality he had he couldn't accept the feelings when they were scattered around his heart for so long?

Why couldn't he accept that he was growing cold and mentally weak without them?

Cloud didn't want to think of it as a weakness although he was bitterly lying to himself, and so being stressed out to a point of no return he shifted his thoughts towards something relaxing, and tempting. His thoughts turned to a girl he always knew would understand him.

"Tifa…" a faint voice echoed through the plains.

He looked around bewildered, the name was reopening wounds.

Why did he her hear name, was he getting paranoid?

The seriousness of the situation did not seem to bother him instead he looked up at the sky and curved his mako blue eyes while parting his lips, it all this didn't matter at the moment because when she entered his mind he would relaxe... then a shocking revelation revealed its face. The only thing he could think about were those beautiful ruby eyes and their glance. Whenever he looked in them he found comfort, and understanding.

"Where are you Tif..?" His eyes widened.

From that moment he knew that something was wrong, he would never be speaking to himself unless he had completely lost his touch.

'Why is this happening?' He thought.

'What am I missing?' An inner battle was taking place.

His heartbeat began to race more, heavier and faster for each upcoming second.

This couldn't be true? He still had a craving, after saving the entire planet and being held as the world's savior was simply not enough now a new challenge was building up, provoking the young blonde spiky haired man to stand up and take a stand it was a matter of life and death if he couldn't be there and see for himself then he would fail and failure was not an option. His eyes widened, and a grin appeared on his face, but yet again it was destroyed by a pained expression on his face, he could again recall her pain. It was 5 years ago, but it still felt bad.

He remembered the incident at _Nibelheim_ in the reactor where she was injured, he felt that he had betrayed her, and could never justify, and regain her trust. It was again at this moment that Cloud Strife suffered from the pain and guilt he always carried within him and the ever so relevant question "what if". For 8 months he had tried to run away from it, but it seemed that it never could be outsmarted, it would always be stuck with him, but maybe he could make up for it.

Slowly he began walking. "Tif I…" He began mumbling. He knew what he could say to the rest of the group, but what he wanted to say to Tifa was hard to express, the only person who was a direct link to his childhood and even his entire life had been cast into a trench and buried alive alongside everything else that made our hero weaker, her importance to him was obvious now, none the less was he a man that always found it difficult to speak out from his heart and therefore he knew that what he had reserved for Tifa needed more time and sacrifice.

Without even questioning his new found worries he got to _Kalm_, and packed his stuff, ran the fastest he could and on the way out noticed a Chocobo which je jumped on, regaining control over it, and screamed "Go!" without a trace his was off!

Cloud could feel the tension build up in his throat. He had to figure out what to do when he would return. That what he owed himself at least, if she would understand was unimportant to him it was what he felt that needed to be discovered and demystified, because if anything Cloud could not remember if he had ever felt like this before.

He knew he was on course and one or two days were all there was left before the big confrontation whit his friends and everything he ever feared would come true, self realisation was what he needed and hated, inside he knew that things certainly would have changed, but he held the hope that still nothing had changed, and when he returned things would be as they were when he had left them.

Meanwhile a beautiful young woman cleaned the bar. _(Tifa's Heaven)_ It was entitled, ironically it was as far from heaven as she could imagine. It was 22 pm and Tifa had done an outstanding job at the bar, once again she had proved her talents, and had no regrets what so ever... or did she?

"Hallo pretty." A soft young voice said.

Tifa turned around and saw Yuffie; there she stood, looking at her with disbelief.

"Why are you so sad?" She asked and looked at Tifa, seemingly looking through her like she was glass and seeing a suffering human being.

"Nothing?" She replied smiling to Yuffie, but still she had second thoughts of what she just said. She knew that she was in denial and Yuffie for once knew that.

"No, your not I can see it! Tifa I've known you for some time now and I can see when my best friend is hurt from inside." Yuffie deepened her voice with such a precision it could kill.

Tifa moved towards Yuffie, and embraced her, she exclaiming: "I'm okay, you don't have to worry about me, and we still have that deal. We are going out tomorrow to catch some sweet guys." Tifa looked at Yuffie with ease, and had a sarcastic look in her face, pointing out that she looked forward to this.

"Yeah it's gonna be cool!" Yuffie pointed out with a smile that could make Tifa smile as well. Yuffie had this power to move Tifa's feelings, it made their friendship bond even stronger at times, when Tifa was sad, or hurt Yuffie would always be there, and take care of Tifa which proved to show that Yuffie was more than a Materia Thief.

"Then I see you tomorrow?" Tifa asked with a beautiful smile to it.

"You betcha", Yuffie turned around and went out of the bar.

Tifa closed it up and went home. She had a nice house located at the top of a small hill, here all of ex' AVALANCHE members had their homes and lived a descent life. They had plenty of money being literally thrown at them after the defeat of Sephiroth, and it helped them to establish their own existence. Cid had married Shera, and they had started a great and loving relationship with each other. Barret lived together with his daughter Marlene, and had married Elmyra Gainsbourgh, he had as well found a life of peace. Vincent was as always a mystery and lived on the outskirt of their neighbourhood in an almost run down house, it had seemed to Tifa that he never wanted any company and when she would knock on his door he would rarely open. While walking through the peaceful neighbourhood she looked up at the sky, it was beautiful sight, but she didn't have anybody to share the moment with, sure she had gotten offers from all kinds of men most of them even nice ones, but judging from her own point of view they all were alcoholics and even if did choose her bar over the others she knew that they weren't right for her. She had for one who could fully understand her needs and emotions, this person could be a blond spiky haired man, but where was he? Was he happy? Was he sad? And most importantly was he still alive? None of it could be explained.

As she walked in, she could feel the cold of the tears running down her sweet cheeks, she parted her lips slightly started sobbing in silence, a sad revelation had struck her. There was nobody in this empty house who could comfort her at this all significant moment, it was these moments who made tiny scars in Tifa's heart, one after another she begged that something would happen, just something so she could feel good again, although no one really knew what pain she had to carry she was good at hiding it, the only person in the world who could know about it was the one who left to pursuit his own dreams, she knew what she was all alone even when she had excellent friends. Never had he asked her for anything and this was killing her mentally. She wiped the tears away, and got something to eat before she hit the showers, and her main routine before going to bed.

Meanwhile in all haste Cloud was in the middle of a thick forest, not wanting to travel all the way without a reason he took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialled the number he had in his mind. The Chocobo wasn't stopping one bit it just went on running.

The phone rang just before Tifa was able to tuck herself in to sleep. 'Who can this be in the middle of the night?' She thought and picked it up. "Hello, Tifa here." She said without thinking of who this could be.

Cloud wanted to know if she still lived in Junon, luckily her voice confirmed it, before he could say a word his focus shifted on the cell phone resulting in a nearby branch hitting him and knocking the cell phone right out of his hand, he growled: "Damn it!" His deep voice echoing throughout the forest. Tifa froze as she heard this SO familiar voice even if it was a bad signal she could recognize it perfectly, the voice that had haunted her dreams, and the voice that could make her knees loose up, and make her feel happy and literally melt down in a split second. Tears ran uncontrollably down her sweet cheeks, her heart began tripping, her lungs loosing air and having to breathe faster to stabilize the situation, she said with a trebling voice without power:

"Cloud…?"

Tifa hung up after the signal was gone, she cried not of pain, but relief she went to bed curling her beautiful long brown hair with her sweet fingertips while her slender and perfect body was covered by thin silky duvet. She couldn't sleep; her eyes were open at all time thinking of what just had happened. "Cloud..." She whispered repeatedly to herself.

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**A/N: **The first updated and rewritten chapter is up! I am very excited to see what my active readers think about the improvements and add-ons, I hope that these are visible if not then please inform me about it. I hope that you have enjoyed this "new" chapter and look forward to... You guessed it right! Chapter II: Reunion! :)


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